Remember Me
by hannahncakes
Summary: How is it that River remembers the Doctor when all traces of him have been wiped from the universe? set during 'The Big Bang' s5 ep13. One-shot.


Remember Me

**Disclaimer:** If I owned the Doctor and/or River I would so not have time to be writing this. However I am but a lowly fan with time on her hands.

_Author's Note: Okay so I've be re-watching The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang and I was struck by the fact that there was a big gaping plot hole when they didn't explain how River still remembered the Doctor when no one else did and managed to alert Amy to bring him back. So, being the dedicated fan that I am, I decided to fill it in for myself :D Enjoy…_

That ring was staring at her. It sounded crazy, she knew, but it was as if her eyes were drawn to nothing else but that strange little ring in its strange blue box. She didn't know where it was from but she knew, somehow she just _knew_ that it wasn't just any ring. Every morning she woke up and stared at and it stared back at her from its position on her bedside table. It was mocking her. It knew something she didn't and, although she was desperate to know its secrets part of her was too terrified to even pick it up. She stared at the beautiful green and blue gems that sparkled in it and reminded her of… Something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Like an image from another life. Something to do with the sky at sunrise and the glitter of stars and a feeling so wonderful it felt like it would burst from her chest and engulf the whole world.

Each day she carried on as normal and each day it felt like something was missing. Nothing was different, this was how her life had always been but suddenly it felt so very empty for a reason she couldn't understand. Only first thing in the morning and last thing at night when she lay in bed with her ring staring at her did she feel complete. It felt like someone was reaching out to her when she looked at it. Felt like the ghost of a memory putting an arm around her as she lay there alone, lost in thought.

One day, one day that was no different to any other, the ring spoke to her. Well she assumed it was the ring that spoke to her. It had been staring at her and then this voice, a voice she knew so well but not at all, somewhere in the depths of her mind said _put it on._ There was no question that it was the ring she was supposed to wear. So, as if following instructions she'd always known, she picked it up and placed it onto her finger. Not just any finger, of course, because this wasn't just any ring. It fitted perfectly and she wondered how she could ever forget that she always wore this ring on this finger. No one noticed, no one commented on the sudden appearance of this sparkling ring because they knew, like she did, that this was the ring that River always wore and had always worn and it was very significant but they didn't know why.

Now that she wore it she felt more complete but still something nagged her. She felt surges of emotion at random points in her day that she knew were from her ring and not from what was happening around her. She felt more joy, more sadness and more wonder than her ordinary life had ever provided her with and although she didn't understand it it didn't trouble her because she felt safe in these feelings, as if someone who loved her was trying to guide her to where she should be. She longed for those feelings to continue, to be her real world. She dreamed about them. Dreamed about a life that was so much more than she had now. It was in one of these dreams that she saw the words. Normally it was just emotions she felt but then she began to see the words. She didn't understand them but she knew she'd seen them somewhere before. Each night for months she dreamt of those words alone and all day she wondered about them, willing herself to remember.

Then suddenly one day she was doing the washing up and as she pulled her hand out of the water her ring fell off. Her heart lurched in her chest as she managed to catch it a fraction of a second before it fell down the plug hole. As she went to put it back on she noticed something glinting inside the ring. Holding her breath she held it up to the light. Before she even read it she knew what it was. The words. Before she'd seen them but not understood the strange squiggles but seeing them now, seeing them like this, she understood. Her brain finally clicked and translated the language she shouldn't be able to read as she saw it engraved on her ring. _Forever yours, through all of time and space. I'll never forget you._ And a name. A name she couldn't even pronounce that resounded through her as if it were ingrained in her very blood.

She gasped and dropped her ring as she collapsed to the floor and cried and cried. Her tears soaked her face and her clothes and threated to flood the whole world. She cried until she thought she could cry no more. Her Doctor. Her husband. Her lover. Her saviour. How could she ever forget him? The memories flooded back through her. All they'd done, all they'd seen. Suddenly her life made sense again. She **felt **it. Felt what it was like to be truly alive- to be running through the stars and never looking back. Her heart felt like it was going to burst with happiness. She knew what she had to do.

**Please, please review and make my day. **


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